Some 13 companies have already submitted applications for growing cannabis plants to the Laegemiddelstyrelsen, so that they can help treat Danes suffering from painful illnesses such as cancer and multiple sclerosis.

From January 2018, the drug becomes legalised as part of a four-year trial and patients in the country can obtain cannabis on prescription, the Copenhagen Post reports .

But parliament is still working on the specific details of how the scheme will work, meaning that some horticulturalists, including Jorgen K. Andersen of the Dansk Gartneri firm, have chosen not to apply.